Nearly two years ago, the esteemed Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told us that something can be factually false but morally true:
"I think that there's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right," said AOC.
The statement rightfully drew widespread criticism. Even the Left-of-Marx Washington Post said she has a "tendency to exaggerate or misstate basic facts." But AOC wanted us to know that we shouldn't let things like mathematical statistics and objective truths make us "miss the forest for the trees." In essence, she makes the argument that one can be wrong and tell falsehoods as long as one's cause is just. The ends justify the means.
Even the Post called this "the slipperiest of slopes — the kind of attitude you can use to justify pretty much anything to yourself" (they then went on to slam Trump).
Today, however, one reporter at the New York Times has expressed the inverse of AOC's statement: that something can be factually true but morally wrong and thus should be labeled "misinformation."
In this case, tech columnist Kevin Roose wants you to know that yes, there may be widespread allegations of election fraud, but that reporting it is morally wrong because it might undermine "confidence in an election."
Ah, yes! Now it makes sense! Just like falsifying facts is okay when it fits your narrative, reporting them is wrong when it doesn't fit that narrative (the narrative, of course, is that Trump is an Orange Man who is very orange and very bad).
Imagine this was another crime. Sure, reporting on murder is good, but would you not report a murder just because it was a black man who shot a white kindergartner in cold blood and it doesn't fit the narrative of systemic racism?
The response to Roose's rhetoric was swift:
Roose even went on to talk about how there needs to be more Orwellian wordsmithing to separate totally false stories from true stories that lead people in a direction you don't like:
Ben Shapiro got the credit for delivering one final K.O. to Roose, pointing out the real agenda underlying Roose's rant:
Remember, kids: it's okay to steal, bear false witness, covet, cheat, hate your parents, kill, and even profane the name of God himself as long as it's for the cause of Woke "social justice." Inversely, it's wrong to speak the truth, be charitable, honor your parents, forgive, and honor God if it goes against that cause.
